Springfield Chamber Players Premieres BROADWAY WITH STRINGS ATTACHED

The Springfield Chamber Players will premiere Broadway with Strings Attached, a new pops concert celebrating music from Broadway, at 52 Sumner in Springfield, on Saturday, April 26, at 8PM. This chamber music pops program features the Springfield Chamber Players' Quartetto Mosso, narrators Marty Kluger and Mark G. Auerbach, and vocalists Sarah Vincelett-Dredge and Spencer Reese. Quartetto Mosso features violinists Ronald Gorevic and Beth Welty, violist Delores Thayer, and cellist Yoonhee Ko. 

According to the program's creator, Mark G. Auerbach, Broadway with Strings Attached features musicals where strings play a major role (i.e. a fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof, a cellist in A Little Night Music, a violin in 1776, and a fiddle player who gets eaten in Sweeney Todd). Also included is Richard Rodgers' No Strings, which he wrote with no stringed instruments in the orchestra. There will be a medley of Rodgers and Hammerstein music from Cinderella, Flower Drum Song, Oklahoma, South Pacific, and Carousel. The ensemble will showcase musicals that premiered in our regional theatres, including Goodspeed Musicals (Shenandoah, Man of La Mancha), Hartford Stage (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Anastasia) and Barrington Stage Company (On the Town). There will also be songs from the musicals Cabaret and The Band's Visit, which are relevant to today's world.

Broadway with Strings Attached was created by Mark G. Auerbach, with musical direction by Marty Kluger. Los Angeles-based film composer Max Mueller, who also composed Triptych for the Springfield Chamber Players' Horn Trio, has arranged the music. Production design is by Jay Pagluica of JP's Lighting and Sound. Music preparation is by Holyoke Civic Symphony Maestro David Kidwell. 

THE PLAYERS

Mark G. Auerbach is host/anchor of ArtsBeat, Survivor Stories, and On The Mark on Westfield Community Programming and 89.5fm/WSKB, and an ArtsBeat contributor to Westfield News/MassLive, and Berkshire On Stage. Before becoming a PR consultant and reporter, he studied theatre at Northfield Mount Hermon, American University, and Yale University. His performance credits include: Oliver, Little Mary Sunshine, The Pirates of Penzance, Fiddler on the Roof, La Perichole, Wonderful Town, and Goat Song…a long time ago. Recently, he's been the PR guy for Springfield Chamber Players, where he narrated Peter Schickele's The Boston Wonder. 

Ronald Gorevic, violinist, has played recitals in New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Atlanta, and London, where he gave British premieres of works by Donald Erb and Ned Rorem. Ron is Principal Violist of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.  In another life, Mr. Gorevic played several shows on Broadway, including Carousel, Titanic and Swan Lake. https://www.ronaldgorevic.com/

Marty Kluger is principal timpanist of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, which he joined upon completing percussion and conducting studies at the Yale School of Music. He was also a Yale School of Medicine scientist and researched molecular pathways of disease. After leaving Yale, he turned to singing Bel Canto and barbershop (with the Hartford Chorale and the Hartford Men in Harmony, respectively) and later, to singing-acting on stage. Musical theatre credits include Cabaret (Herr Schultz) and A Christmas Carol with CT Theatre Co.; and Beauty and the Beast (M. D'Arque) with the Little Theatre of Manchester. He's played percussion on Broadway (Dancin' and Pirates of Penzance) and recently played  Lt. Ross in a production of A Few Good Men with The Suffield Players.

Yoonhee Ko, cellist, holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Boston University, a Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Ewha Womans University. In 2019, Yoonhee joined the Hartford Symphony and Springfield Symphony Orchestra. She is currently a faculty member of the Community Music School of Springfield and serves as string program coordinator for the Sonido Musica Program. 

Max Mueller is a Los Angeles-based film composer and orchestrator. Max recently scored the LGBTQ+ horror comedy, Summoning Sylvia and soon after the short Dream, directed by Aaron Blaise, director of the 2003 Walt Disney Pictures animated feature Brother Bear.  Max also composed original music for Pixote Hunt, the director of the 1994 Twentieth Century Fox feature film, The Pagemaster, and James Lopez, veteran Disney animator. As an orchestrator, Max has worked for such luminaries as concert violinist Sarah Chang, David Bowie collaborator Mike Garson, and Academy Award nominated composer David Newman on his scores for Girls Trip, Night School, and the Netflix adaptation of Green Eggs and Ham.

Jay Pagluica, Technical Director at 52 Sumner and owner of JPLS Lighting & Sound, has been providing lighting and sound for theater and concerts since the 1970's. He designs and installs lighting and sound systems for theater and production services for concerts, a business which continues to be a life-long passion. Working with Help Keep Music Education Alive, Jay travels the Northeast working with fundraisers for high school music departments. Most recently, he designed lighting for the Taylor Swift Eras Tribute and provided production design for the run of Love Letters at 52 Sumner by the Springfield Community Theater of MA. 

Dr. Spencer Reese, tenor, is a performer, director, and educator based in Connecticut. He is on the voice faculty at UConn, a teaching artist for Goodspeed Musicals, the artistic director of the Connecticut Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and a twelve-time resident artist/choreographer with the Ohio Light Opera. Praised as “the quintessential song-and-dance man,” his favorite roles include Don Lockwood in Singin' in the Rain, J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business…, Bill Snibson in Me and My Girl, and Billy Earley in No, No, Nanette.

Delores (Loree) Thayer, violist, is a member of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. She plays regularly with the Hartford Symphony and at other venues throughout the New England area, and has served on the viola faculty at Amherst College. Her performances have taken her to the summer music festivals in Spain; Spoleto, Italy; Tanglewood; and the Yale Norfolk Music Festival. Delores is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Yale Graduate School of Music. She has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, and in numerous premieres and recordings.

Sarah Vincelett-Dredge, soprano, is a versatile performer with a background in musical theater, opera, and film. Notable roles include Julie Jordan in Carousel (Savoyard Light Opera), Grace in Annie (The Company Theater), and Musetta in La Bohème (Opera51). Internationally, she has performed as Bastienne in Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne in Spoleto, Italy. Sarah has toured nationally with Celticfusion and appeared in TV shows like Veronica Mars. As a voice-over artist, she collaborates with companies such as McGraw Hill. A graduate of New England Conservatory and Ithaca College, she teaches at Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, focusing on vocal health and artistry. 

To post a comment, you must register and login.